Nelson McCausland MLA
(Democratic Unionist Party - Constituency: North Belfast).
A personal blog in which I comment on a wide variety of issues, political, cultural, social, historical and religious. If something takes my attention, then I may well comment on it.

Friday, 17 September 2010

New republican band

A flute band has been established in Glasgow to honour an IRA terrorist who was killed when a bomb she was handling exploded prematurely.

The Volunteer Patricia Black Memorial flute Band was formed in February in Glasgow and its website states that it is 'politically aligned to Irish socialist republican party Eirigi'.

Patricia Black grew up in the Lenadoon area of Belfast and joined the Belfast Brigade of the Irish Republican Army at the age of 17. Eventually she moved to London as part of an IRA Active Service Unit. She died, along with fellow Volunteer Frankie Ryan, on 15 November 1991, when an explosive device she was carrying detonated prematurely near London. A British Army military band had been playing in a theatre on St Peter's Street in St Albans and the two IRA terrorists had planned to target the members of the band.

The new republican flute band makes its first appearance in Northern Ireland tomorrow night (18 September) at the Donegal Celtic Social Club on the Suffolk Road in West Belfast. There will be some speeches, a performance by the band and then a disco.

At a time when so much excellent work is being done to tackle issues such as sectarianism in football it is disappointing that such a prominent football club has allowed its clubrooms to be used for such an event by a 'dissident republican' band. I recognise that Northern Ireland is a society in transition but it shows just how far we still have to go.